nuclear-news

Tougher charges against elderly Catholic anti nuclear nun: could face 10 years in prison

New charges filed in nuclear weapons plant breach The Sacfamento Bee, By ERIK SCHELZIG Associated Press, Aug. 9, 2012 –  NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal grand jury toughened the charges against three anti-war protesters who authorities say cut their way through three security fences and spray-painted slogans on the walls of a nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee.

An indictment released Thursday in Knoxville charges an 82-year-old Roman Catholic nun with Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, a gardener and a housepainter with “depredation”
of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The indictment against Megan Rice of Las Vegas, Michael Walli of
Washington and Greg Boertje-Obed of Duluth, Minn., includes two
charges announced previously: trespassing, a misdemeanor, and
malicious destruction of property, a felony.

The sprawling Y-12 complex of 800 acres and 500 buildings stores the
nation’s supply of weapons-grade uranium, makes nuclear warhead parts
and provides nuclear fuel for the Navy and research reactors
worldwide.

According to an affidavit filed with the court, the protesters walked
nearly a half-mile into the high-security property before dawn on July
28, past signs warning that deadly force could be used on intruders.
They made it to a building called the Highly Enriched Uranium
Materials Facility, where the uranium is stored.

On the way, federal court documents say, the three used bolt cutters
to clear three security fences and set off many alarms.

They painted the exterior of the building with the phrases “woe to the
empire of blood” and “the fruit of justice is peace” and sprayed it
with blood, according to an investigator’s affidavit.

“We come to the Y-12 facility because our very humanity rejects the
designs of nuclearism, empire and war,” a letter found at the site and
signed by the three defendants read. “Our faith in love and
nonviolence encourages us to believe that our activity here is
necessary.”….. Because of the new indictment, a court hearing
scheduled for Thursday was canceled……… http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/09/4710562/new-charges-filed-in-nuclear-weapons.html#storylink=cpy

August 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, Religion and ethics, USA